Product Review

The Men's Solution Climbing Shoe is La Sportiva's most popular answer to difficult boulder problems and steep sport routes. Drastically downturned, this shoe is one of the best for overhangs, scummy heel hooks, greasy smears, and microscopic edges. La Sportiva's revered P3 Power Platform was first developed specifically for this shoe, and it retains the shoe's aggressive downturn until after you blow through the rubber. A shoe this technical deserves its own special rubber compound, and it's one of the few out there to feature Vibram's XS Grip2 rubber, which is extremely stiff around the toe box and soft, supple, and thin at the heel and arch. With more flexibility at the heel, the Solution bends to your will when you're toeing off-angled footholds and high-stepping the top-out.This Solution has a modernly refined, 3D-shaped heel cup that keeps a solid fit no matter how scummy that heel hook feels. The Lock Harness System wraps the leather upper snugly around your foot for a customized feel that stretches only slightly, and the Lorica tongue adds subtle padded cushioning and ventilation. The Solution might sport the speediest closure out of any climbing shoe; its Fast Lacing System uses one hook-and-loop strap that cinches three separate sections for a snug fit that's ready to go on-and-off after each boulder attempt.